Loving Chastity
by Lonixa
Summary: From a young age Percy Jackson was despised and abused by his family. After over a decade of his treatment he finally snapped and ran away. With his abilities lost to him, he found himself lost in a local forest near his home in Colorado where he meets a mysterious silver eyed girl who begins prying into his life.
1. Chapter 1

CO WRITTEN BY: Anc1enT, KryptertJ, Storm0, fdquesada, Lonixa

Title: Loving Chastity

Synopsis: From a young age Percy Jackson was despised and abused by his family. After over a decade of his treatment he finally snapped and ran away. With his abilities lost to him, he found himself lost in a local forest near his home in Colorado where he meets a mysterious silver eyed girl who begins prying into his life.

Prologue

Perseus

"I'm sorry!" Percy cried as Sally reared the thick, leather belt back once more for another strike.

"Sorry? Shut the hell up, you good-for-nothing bastard, why the hell were you even born!" Sally replied atrociously as she left another scar on both his bruised body and slowly cracking mind.

"What's going on?" Gabe asked as he walked into the room with an empty beer bottle. Puffing his cigar, he looked down at Percy, disgust evident in his eyes as he stared down at the bruised boy "What did he do this time?"

"This little shit here decided he could touch our pies," Sally stated as she attacked with new found vigour.

"What!" Gabe roared. "You're dead, you fucking asshole," He grabbed his cigar and shoved the lit end against Percy's back causing him to scream in pain.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please no more!" Percy began to cry, just knowing that he was going to be beaten even more. "I was starving and I hadn't eaten today." Percy bowed his head down, preparing for another strike. The cigar bud burned into Percy's back.

"Useless piece of fucking shit! Waste of food, money and oxygen, the world would be a whole lot better with you not in it!" Gabe yelled as he smashed an empty beer bottle that he finished onto Percy's shoulder. Hearing Gabe's comment and seeing his blood forming a puddle, something clicked inside him and Percy decided that was all he could take and made a mad dash for the half-open door. He was going to run away, he didn't know where he would end up going but he couldn't stay here any longer. Living day to day with nothing but scraps of his parents' food, or a decent place to call his home had left him ready to give up on life; they treated stray animals better than him.

"Get back here you piece of shit!" Sally Jackson called from behind him! A loud crash happened right next to him and another beer bottle shattered against the wall beside him.

Ignoring this, Percy ran as fast as his small, weak body could carry him. It didn't matter what ended up being in front of him as long as he could get as far away as possible from Stinky Sally and Smelly Gabe, his so-called parents.

Due to the limited amount of food available to him for the past few years, he couldn't get very far and end up in the forest behind his house. Percy limped in to find shelter from the freezing cold, every fibre of his body screaming at him to stop and lay down.

Yet he refused, he pushed on. He had to get away from his family at all costs. There was no telling what would happen if he returned to the hellhole. His vision begun to go hazy, blood began dripping from his arms. He couldn't stop here though, that meant giving up and having to return back to his family. Cold bit into his arms as he continued to struggle through the terrain.

"Head toward the pond on the left," Something in Percy's gut told him to go left and so he did, slowly, step-by-step he headed in the direction of the pond. After walking through the bushes, moving his hands in front of him to keep the leaves out, he found a small pond with a wood dock that seemed to be crumbling through the years. Struggling up to it, Percy reached into the water with both hands and took a handful of water. It was gone in less than a moment down his throat as he did it over and over again. Finally quenching his thirst, Percy leaned against a tree and slid down.

Staring down at his wrists, Percy let out a quiet sob. There were cuts and bruises all over his arms and that didn't compare to the rest of his body. Curling up, he quietly began to sob. He was going to die here. He wasn't going to make it out alive. There was no doubt he would end up starving in this forest.

"Why do you cry, child?" Percy looked up and saw another girl his age staring right back at him, her silver eyes glanced at him worriedly as they scanned his body. Seeing her take a step forward, Percy stumbled backwards and hid his hands behind him.

"S-Stay away" Percy let out a choked sob. "You don't want to know. It wouldn't do you any good." Percy began to slide back more and more until he bumped into another tree.

The girl stared at him before her eyes were widened with shock as she saw Percy's hands. Of course, she had seen a lot of people and this was definitely not the first time she had ever seen anyone, around this age, beat black and blue but to the extent that Percy was beaten? That was new.

"What happened to you?" She asked curiously as she stepped closer, ignoring his pleas for her to distance herself.

"Nothing, I just tripped and fell is all!" Percy lied lamely, not believing it himself.

The girl approached him slowly and took a seat in front of him, making sure to keep enough distance from him. "It's alright, don't worry. My name is Artemis and I want to help you."

Percy shook his head and scooted back slightly. "No, you don't understand. No one can help me. No one can and no one will." Percy curled up into a ball again and tried to stop the tear flow. Honestly, he was crying in front of a girl and he was all scratched up. This was embarrassing.

"You're bleeding." Artemis pointed at him. "Will you please come over to the water and at least let me help you?"

Percy frantically shook his head. She didn't understand! If his mother or father somehow found them out here and saw her treating his wounds then there was no doubt she would get hurt as well.

"Come on, it's alright," She said as she walked over to him and slowly pulled him up, "You need to be healed and there is no point in arguing with it." She told him as she dragged him to the pond.

Percy erratically tried to get out of her grip but she kept an iron hold on him as she leads him to the water. "Boy, I am trying to heal you. There is no point arguing with me. Now sit down at once." Percy could tell she was beginning to lose her cool. Her voice got deeper and almost seemed to growl at him.

Hearing this Percy quietly abided and stopped moving. Every fibre of his body did not want to agree with this but something in him told Percy to listen to her. Quietly, he sat down on the dock that he had been at only moments before.

Jumping down into the small pond, Percy took note of how it only filled her to her waistline. Pulling a cloth from her jacket, she dipped it in the water, soaking it as much as she could before ringing it out. "Give me your arm."

Hesitantly, Percy reached down and gave his hand to Artemis which she pulled down and begun to scrub it. Percy had to turn away from his arm and he could see the girl biting her lip and focusing on the task. After a moment she froze in her steps and growled. "Who did this to you?"

"N-No one" Percy shook his head quickly. "I tripped and fell!"

"Do not lie! I know someone did this to you. Was it a friend? Don't tell me... was it your father?" At the last part, Percy winced and her eyes widened. "My apologies"

Percy shook his head. "It's both of them."

The girl stopped cleaning his arm and froze. Grabbing Percy's chin she lifted it down to look into his eyes. "What?"

"It's both of them," Percy repeated, looking away, ashamed, "Both my mom and my dad."

She was frozen for just a moment, clearly taken back by this. "I see, come into the water so I can tend to the rest of your wounds," she quietly murmured. Percy didn't argue with her and slowly walked into the water. His wounds were aching all over. "What now?"

"Now you take your shirt off." She ordered him to which he shook his head, fear masking his features.

"No." Percy stood defiantly from her and wrapped his hands around his shirt. He couldn't let her see scars underneath it. There was no way that she could see what was on his back.

She stopped in her tracks. This was much more defiant then he had been earlier and it was clear by the spark of rebellion in his eyes. Although it seemed he was rejecting her order more out of fear than anger.

Rather than letting him pick, the girl grabbed both of his arms and held them above his head. He was so weak that his struggles barely moved her. Then with her other hand, she grabbed his shirt and ripped it off.

Eyes widened and he took a step back. "No please, you don't understand."

"What." She murmured. Percy tried to hide by going down into the water but Artemis yanked him back up, inspecting his wounds more closely despite him trying to hide them with his scrawny arms. There was blood everywhere and that wasn't didn't even compare to the scratches.

"I'm sorry." Percy turned away, "This is embarrassing." He quietly whispered.

Artemis began to get to work almost at once and Percy had one of the biggest blushes on his face. The girl ignored this and continued to work until she turned to the backside and gasped. Percy winced as he no doubt saw the scars written on his back.

With a slender finger, Percy could feel as she followed the word written on his back. "You are not a freak. You realize that right? You are not what they say you are."

Percy's head fell and he stared into the pond. He had no words to say and he disagreed with her thoughts. He was a freak. He must have been to have had all this to him. "But-"

"No buts." She firmly ordered him. "No child should have to go through what you did. Take me to them right now," She said more firmly.

"No," Percy said firmly. There was no way he was taking her to them. Knowing his "parents", they would lock her away in the basement and torture her like they did him. He couldn't involve anyone else in their little game. "They'll hurt you. You don't know what they're like." Percy warned her meekly.

"Fine, at least tell me where they live" she replied. There was no way she was leaving this as it was.

"Why?" Percy asked suspiciously. He didn't know this random girl but she seemed way too overconfident that she would be just fine if she came across Smelly Gabe or Stinky Sally.

"It's so that we can report them to the police." She lied smoothly. As if the police would do anything more than warn them. She had a much more efficient way of dealing with parents like that, not that Percy would know.

"You don't have to go through all the trouble" Percy mumbled embarrassedly but then something captured his curiosity. 'What was she doing here?' He voiced his thoughts out to her.

"Ah, I was on a hunting trip." Artemis lied with ease, thousands of years of practice makes you profound in anything.

Percy nodded before gaining an inquisitive look, "With who?" he asked, it was pretty taboo letting out a young girl, especially a good looking one, out by herself far away from society in the middle of the woods.

"Ah… I'm here with my friends? Maybe once this is done I'll introduce you. But that's enough about me; please tell me where do you live?" She pleaded, quickly diverting the conversation away from her and back on the correct path with false sincerity.

Percy really needed a place to stay and a source of food so if her friends could help him, he would gladly accept. "On one condition, I-I need a… stay" Percy mumbled, twiddling his fingers nervously.

"You need a what?"

Percy looked at their reflection in the pond, a boy who looked on the verge of death standing next to a girl that put supermodels to shame. There was no way he could ask if he could stay with her, that was too much. "Nothing, let's go," Percy said as his bright red blush faded and a look of determination covered his face. Forcing the blush down, Percy headed towards the way he came before turning around and stating "They live this way..."

"Yeah, coming but maybe you should put on a shirt first," Artemis pointed out causing Percy's face to turn red, "Uh…" Artemis rolled her eyes before taking off her own jacket and passing the silver parka around Percy. This was the third time she had made Percy blush in a few seconds but Percy took it gratefully and gave the Goddess a small smile which she gladly returned.

Percy took the lead as they walked through the forest to his home. The awful stench of beer was all Percy could smell, his stomach started to ache. They continued onwards, small packets of cigars and shattered bottles of beer and blood of unlucky animals stained the grass. The sickening feeling in Percy's stomach grew and his brain demanded him to turn back. Soon the CO2 filled air filled Percy's lungs; the now familiar feeling of being in the presence of those "cancer-sticks" was all he could feel. No longer was he feeling any form of joy that he felt before. His brain screeched at him to turn tail and run, he didn't want to care for the new girl, he wanted to give up but she had shown him so much compassion and been so friendly with him that just giving up on her like that would leave an even bigger pit in his stomach.

It was only a matter of time before the dreaded building came in sight for Perseus. It was a two-story building with paint peeling off the sides, with long, uncut grass that had empty beer bottles and cigar packs scattered throughout it, decorating the ground. This place was once a lively home when he was young but it became the place he feared. This was it. This was the place he referred to as home for the past 14 years of his wonderful life.

"Alright, let's head back now," Percy said with haste as he swivelled 180 degrees and began to march away.

Artemis

Artemis stared at him blankly as he speed-walked away before sighing sadly and waving her hand and then she muttered "κοιμάμαι (sleep)" and surely enough Percy dropped to the ground like a sack, filled to the brim, before turning and flashing herself into the home.

The Silver clad Goddess appeared within the living room and glanced around, the walls were stained with brown, red and various other colours, the walls had paint slowly peeling off them and the almost barren room which only accommodated a decent sized TV which was in top notch condition which was unusual in comparison to the rest of the room and a sofa that had several questionable stains as well as empty bottles of beers left haphazardly.

Artemis looked at the bottles in disgust. Her huntresses almost always had some issue relating to that drink. She shook her head before walking upstairs, searching for the two that the boy abused him, she believed him no doubt on the man abusing him, after all, a mother abusing their own child? Whilst it wasn't a far cry and realistic it still was far from usual after all, the mother had to keep him in her for 9 months of excruciating pain.

Sally and Gabe were worried - at best, at worst they were petrified, now, one would assume, and rightfully so, that they're worried about their son's safety. After all, he had just gone missing but that would be from someone who hasn't had any previous context. What the two were worried about was that Percy was going to snitch on them, tell the police of what they've done and then they'd be hit with several legal problems. For a starter their rights as Percy's parents would be terminated but that wasn't much of a bother for either of them however what was most definitely a bother would be their ruined reputation since not many people like someone who's physically and verbally abused a young child for over a decade and they'd get criminal records. Something that'd make their lives infinitely harder since then neither could get a job and in an absolute worst case scenario they'd both get lifetime prison sentences.

Sally was brought out of her argument with Gabe over what to do when she suddenly felt a searing pain engulf her mind and all she could see was a pair of silver eyes glaring at her before memories began to play throughout her mind.

It began with her meeting a man, a man that women dream of with his raven black hair and sea green eyes. She could recall the day she met him on the beach like yesterday, the image of him as he arose from the sea with his three-pronged trident in hand embedded in her mind. Sally whimpered at the memory, wishing she could go back to those days when she could feel safe in his arms. The memories sped by in a flash before stopping on another image of her with the green-eyed man. Sally was pacing around the house, which appeared in a much better condition than it was now, waiting for her lover to return from the Winter Solstice meeting on Olympus. She had amazing news for him, she was pregnant. When he finally did return from the meeting, he was completely mentally exhausted. Sally quickly ushered him to the sofa and laid him down, as he massaged his temples she announced to him that she had great news for him causing the God to look up at her and brighten at that. Happily, he accepted as he could now divert his thoughts from the meeting he had just attended. He scooted back against the arm of the couch to lean against so he could look up at her instead of just staring at the ceiling. Sally normally didn't have any news for him so with his exhaustion forgotten he asked what her news was. Her response would dim his mood, but it would also brighten his day. They were going to have a child; it would mean he would get the chance to have another son. It would also mean that he would have to leave Sally once their son was born, something he didn't want to have to tell her but needed to for the sake of their trust in each other. At the heart-wrenching news that her lover would have to leave her, she made a desperate attempt to have him stay with her and the child even while completely understanding his bindings to the Ancient Laws. Her lover told her to marry a mortal man who could cover their son's scent from the monsters of the Greek world. "Poseidon", she said, "How could I ever love another like I do you?" His curt response of "You don't need to love him, just marry him and keep him around", after his response, the memories flashed past Sally's sight once again before slowing down on a scene of abuse.

Soon it became too much, dealing with Gabe, it was constant, never-ending torture for her! It was too much, why did she fall in love with the God? Why did he have to get her pregnant? Why did she trade in monsters that only attack through claws of steel but can be killed to a monster that cannot be killed? Sally looked at the 6-pack of beers. If Gabe's always drinking from them they must be at least half-good, right? She walked over to the pack that lay carelessly on the coffee table that sat in front of the sofa and grabbed a bottle, ignoring the 4-year-old who watched curiously as his mother took the bottle and began to drink. Soon one drink became two and after two drinks she drank some more. To say Gabe was pleased when he saw Sally would be the biggest understatement of the century, the fat, pig-eyed man was beyond ecstatic to see his wife drink and he immediately took advantage of it, introducing her to more things, to drugs like "legal highs". Soon, nothing logical, reasonable or loving filled Sally's mind, in it was a cruel monster together, the couple began to torment the young child relentlessly, each day they did something new - something worst. Only when Percy had to begin going to school was he gifted the sweet release from his eternal tormentors. Sally could recall seeing the fear in his eyes as he stared at her.

Artemis glared at the woman who had stood by as her son was tortured; this was disgusting, for over 10 years of such horror, suffering on a day-to-day basis, and never feeling safe at home. Only when he was in school did he ever feel safe - even if only slightly more than at home.

Artemis had to control herself, as a part of her wished to take her true form and wipe their disgusting presence from the Earth. The rational side of her mind won over, if she took her true form, there was a good chance that nearby mortals would be harmed. Also, she did not need to draw the attention of Olympus to the area. Zeus would certainly send Hermes to investigate the power spike. She needed to keep Percy's existence a secret, for now. She needed to confront the boy's father and determine how he was able to hide his scent for so long. The last thing Olympus needed was a civil war. Not when they should be focusing on the Titan threat.

Artemis drew a Stygian Iron hunting knife from the folds of her uniform. She would make sure these mortals suffer. Percy would never have to endure their evil any longer. Before turning to Gabe, she made a note to herself, to ask Hades for a special favour when this was over. Freezing their minds, she ordered the pair to sit on the sofa in the living room. She smiled darkly to herself as they did exactly as she ordered. Artemis drew a second knife made of Stygian Iron. She would only do some damage, the rest, well, would be quite enjoyable to watch for her.

"This is for Percy," Artemis growled menacingly, her voice resonating around them due to godly magic. Then she launched herself at Gabe. She released her hold on his mind for just a moment to enjoy the thrill that filled her at the horrified look that had appeared in his eyes. Oh yes, they would pay dearly.

Landing just before the couple, Artemis dropped to a knee and taking each of her knives, stabbed both of Gabe's knees on either side. She ordered him to fold his knees at awkward angles. The scream that left his lungs filled her with glee.

Quickly leaping above them, Artemis drove her knives into Sally's shoulders, driving through the bone and out the other side. Her piercing shriek merely brought a smile to Artemis' face.

Artemis forced them to lie on their stomachs and engraved "monster" on both their backs, slowly and painfully with a pair of rusted scissors. She then summoned acid and slowly poured it into the fresh wounds, watching it slowly seep into the flesh and taking sadistic pleasure in their howling. In the end, both of them lost their voices.

Finally, she decided that the best way to end their pathetic existences would be through at each other's hand, with the snap of her finger two blades appeared in both Gabe and Sally Ugliano's hands and she grinned before waving her hand and suddenly both of them stood up with glazed eyes and charged at one another, blades posed against each other. Artemis let out a small chuckle before walking into the other room and flashing away to where Percy Jackson was asleep.

Artemis sighed contently before walking over to the limp body of Percy Jackson. She stared at him for maybe a minute straight, her mind racing over several actions she could perform.

She debated on sending him to a foster home but he was different, he had divine blood flowing through his veins but she couldn't pinpoint who it was. However, whoever it was they must be powerful to conceal a person's unprotected mind from herself, the Huntress Goddess. Even then, the power radiating from the boy was enough to put her on edge, it wasn't that large, no it was the fact that he was unaware of it that was unnerving and with it honed to a point it could become a deadly weapon; a weapon that could change the world if used right.

Was this the cause of the Fates, to create a weapon for them to aid them? Yes… dark omens have been occurring, Zeus' master bolt having been stolen, the poisoning of Thalia's tree, powerful monsters gathering together with organized raids onto Camp Half-Blood and the rebirth of the Ophiotaurus. Yes, dark days are coming and they'll need all the help they can get. She decided she had to aid this young boy, hone the blade that is his powers. There was only little doubt in the Goddess' mind that he'd play a crucial role in the upcoming days, weeks, months or years.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Cowritten By: Anc1enT, KryptertJ, Storm0, fdquesada, Lonixa

Percy woke up groggily to find himself on a rather comfy bed, but his head was filled with agony. It was as though he had the world's worst hangover. Every part of his body was sore and he found himself barely able to move. Percy tried to recall what had happened to him but his memories were naught but blurs, none of which he could decipher to make a cognitive image, the last thing he could correctly remember was taking the silver-eyed girl to his home and then nothing.

Percy sighed as he rubbed his head, and whilst his head was cloudy and his mind was dreary his body still functioned and he heard two voices speaking to one another in hushed voices. The first voice was without a doubt familiar, it was of a young girl, the silver-eyed girl from yesterday - what was her name? Oh right, Artemis - and another voice, it was of a man and was much deeper, not deep enough to be her father - unless her mother got impregnated by a 12-year-old or so as the voice seemed like it belonged to a man in his mid 20s. Perhaps it was her sibling? Percy got up to take a look around the room, only to find that he was actually in a tent. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind Artemis, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts; black bear, tiger, and several others he didn't recognize. Percy figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins. Standing beside her was a tall, seventeen or eighteen year old boy that had golden hair that was only complimented by his tanned skin and vibrant blue eyes and his outdoorsy good looks.

"Oh, he's up." the boy said as he turned towards me, his piercing blue eyes stared at Percy, searching his body for any injuries or anything akin to one.

"Up already? Does it hurt anywhere?" Artemis asked softly, a kind, worried look in her vibrant silver eyes.

"...Where am I…?!" Percy asked wearily, his eyes wide with caution as he glanced around the room… "Oh God… I'm going to a foster home!?" Realization had hit him. If Sally and Gabe were in prison as the girl had told him she'd get the police on them, then he'd have to go through foster homes and there was no telling whether it'd be better or worse. No one would care about another if it didn't help them in any way, he had learnt that the hard way. Percy was surprised when Artemis shook her head slowly, "Of course not, unless you want to that is."

Percy shook his head vigorously before adding, "No, definitely not." Then another thought popped in his head, 'What if the cops didn't come? What if they didn't have enough evidence? Yes it was silly, after all the scars would give them evidence and even then neither Sally nor Gabe reported their missing child so they clearly didn't care and the thought of police not showing up was outright dumb. However, his young, developing mind was tainted in years of abuse; each day was reminder that he was useless, unneeded and expendable. . He believed that no one cared, not even the authorities who had been assigned to protect them.

"What happened to them? They're in prison, right?" Percy needed to know if they'd still be after him, he could never return to them. The torment that'd he'd face sent shivers down his spine as fear engulfed his body. At this question, Artemis grinned broadly, an amused look twinkled in her eyes, "They've been… dealt with while you were asleep. They won't ever bother you again."

"Okay, who is this? I thought he was going to adopt me" Percy inquired, deciding not to question Artemis on the lack of the word "arrested", motioning towards the casually dressed man who had stayed quiet this entire time.

"This is my brother Apollo, he's a doctor, unfortunately, and he's the best we've got." Artemis answered with a heavy sigh. "He'll be leaving once he's done checking up on you." She added, although it seemed directed more towards Apollo then Percy. Percy stared at the so called Doctor, he was clad in casual clothes, he was wearing jeans, a pair of trainers and a t-shirt. Not what you'd see on a Doctor but Percy decided there'd be another time for questioning.

"I… I don't have any money, thank you for all that you have done though, is there any other way I could repay you?" Percy inquired, desperation become clear in his voice as he finished "I mean… I have both my kidneys… I think…?" Percy added causing both Apollo and the girl to laugh.

"Don't be silly, boy," Artemis said as she stifled her laugh, "Apollo doesn't take money from his patients, oh no, he does something much worse. He makes them listen to his poems."

"Hey! My poems are wonderful, oh, I feel a poem coming up right now, _Oh my Arty how she abuse me so, I don't know if I'm her friend or a foe, It'll be so long until I'm killed by her bow"_ Apollo narrated with a smile on his face.

"Apollo, stop! Firstly, you shall refer to me as Artemis, and secondly, can you not read the situation?" Artemis reprimanded him as she whacked him with a bow. Percy wondered about his future, that is, if he even had one.

Apollo got up with a sheepish look on his face. "Well that's that. He might be sore for a little longer but that's all I can do. Make sure to get plenty of rest Percy. Give it a couple days and you will be good to go." With a farewell wave the man exited the room.

Percy watched him go, the jolly man seemed happy to be helping other people. Turning to look at Artemis, Percy could tell she was deep in thought. The silver eyed girl was zoned out as she stared at Percy. "Artemis?"

That snapped her out of her trance. Her eyes flickered up to his own. "I am sorry Percy. I was just thinking."

"Want to talk about it?" Percy pressed on.

She shook her head, clearing not wanting to talk about it."That's enough about me. Is it alright to talk about your past for just a bit? I have a few questions is all." Artemis walked over and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

Percy froze up, his mind going back to the abuse that had fallen upon him practically his own life. Instinctively, he wrapped his hands around himself. "What do you want to know?" It was little more than a whisper.

Artemis smiled at Percy sadly, "I just needed to know a few things to tell to the police is all Percy. It's alright if you don't want to talk about it but the faster we do the faster it's over and done with."

"What do you want to know then?" Percy repeated. He would get through this and be over and done with as fast as he could.

Artemis stared at him for a few moments with no words being spoken. "For starters, when did the… violence begin?."

"I don't remember a time without it." Percy admitted,and it was true. Practically his whole life he had been abused and he couldn't exactly remember a time without it.

Artemis nodded and tapped her chin, left in a deep ponder.

"Did you ever ask them why?" Artemis inquired curiously. Why would they want to harm such a small child?

"I… I was too afraid to, after all they used to take the… phrase ' _Speak when spoken to_ ' quite far," Percy said nervously as he fidgeted slightly, "I…" Percy began; he stared at the silver-eyed girl in the eye. He shut his eyes, his fists clenched and his breath hitched. He once again opened his eyes and began and took a deep breath and began. "It all started with _him_ , he walked into my home, my mom in his arms,and she looked uncomfortable looking back at it…" Artemis smiled a small smile as she listened to Percy go on, but as he did, she discreetly accessed and looked into his memories with ease. She went to the very time Percy was talking about and began watching the memories from a third person's perspective.

" _Percy!" Percy heard his mom yell and immediately rushed downstairs with a gleeful face, glad to see his mom once more. His mother was just as ecstatic to see her "baby boy" after a long and tiring day of work at "Martin's Candy Store". Percy came rushing to his mother, but as he rushed down the stairs, an odd smell filled his nose and he suddenly slowed down. Taking a minute to get a solid whiff of the stench, he looked around, his curiosity filled eyes scanning his surroundings, as his 4-year-old mind tried to comprehend where the sewer-like smell was coming from._

 _He continued looking until he spotted a nearly obese man standing to the right of his mom, his left arm wrapped around her neck and a bright smile on his face. His smile appeared too bright, as if it had been pasted on with glitter rather than coming from actual joy. Percy looked curiously at the odd man, he smelled horrible yet his face was that of what he guessed a supposedly loving father should look like. He had a huge grin that lacked several teeth and those that he didn't lack were yellow and rotting from their lack of maintenance. His face was small, he had brown hair even if there were only a few strands still covering his scalp; otherwise he would've been bald, he also had pig-like eyes. His face seemed extremely aged and withered, but not in a sage like manner, but in a manner that told long tales of past drinking problems and heavy smoking. The odd man was short, pathetically short but he made up for his lack of height in his almost award-winning beer belly and extraordinary double chin._

Artemis could see the man as clear as day, he didn't look special in comparison to the other men she had castrated.

 _Percy looked at the grinning man oddly, something was off about his smile, his eyes kept switching from him to his mother - and not her face, somewhere below, around her waist._

Artemis snorted, 'typical piggish male' she thought. The uniformity that was present in the majority of male brains when it came to the opposite gender was astounding, if not mind-boggling. After all, they were created by a race of deities that were famous for their promiscuity.

" _Hey there Percy, meet my boyfriend…" But Sally was cut off by the odd man, "Ugliano. Gabe Ugliano." He said simply with a mock British accent in a horrible attempt to impersonate James Bond._

"...that was the day he came in, at first he was really nice, ya know, Dad Jokes here and there, the odd new toy. All fun times, and for a minute, it felt as though I had found a missing piece of a thousand piece puzzle. Turns out, that piece was from another set. He changed, soon..." Percy continued onwards. "...He started beating me up, painted me black, blue and red. Thing is, soon afterwards like… a couple years that whole puzzle of the perfect family? Yeah, that was smashed to bits, burned to ash and then soaked in Chlorine Trifluoride and then the ash was burnt with that." Percy added, a grim chuckle escaped his lips at the end. "What happened?" Artemis inquired; her voice was soft and quiet.

"Sally happened."

 _Percy stood by the door as he saw his mom's car parking in front of the door. "Mom!" Percy shouted as he ran up to her._

" _Percy!" Sally cried out as she smiled at Percy, her face of once timeless beauty had aged tremendously. She had just come back from her third job, a cashier at the corner store nearby._

" _Sally, I'm hungry, why isn't dinner made yet?" Gabe growled from the living room. Sally paled as she quickly assured him that it was almost done before running to the kitchen. "It had better be or else there will be a repeat of what happened last night" He threatened menacingly._

" _Yes, dear" Sally replied, gritting her teeth. 'It's for Percy, it's for Percy, it's for Percy' she chanted in her head over and over again when suddenly a small voice in her asked 'But why? It's his fault she had to deal with Gabe. If Percy hadn't been born, we could've lived happily with Poseidon and never have to move a muscle' a voice said in her head. 'Percy is my son, I have to...' She defended weakly against her inner demons. 'You could always take your anger out on him, a few hits won't harm him anyways, he's a demigod, don't worry, he'll be fine' the voice continued 'No. I'm too tired, I need sleep' Sally said as she picked up Gabe's seven layer dip and took it to the living room, kneeling at his feet as she fed him._

" _Bitch! What took you so long?!" he said as he grabbed the back of her head and hit her against the table, 'It could all stop' Sally weakly lifted her hand to feed Gabe some of the dip, the whale of a man bit into the dip before smacking Sally across the face, 'just give in, then Gabe might be nice'._

 _Sally clenched her head and continued to feed Gabe some more of the dip before going to bed once he was satisfied._

"...I was there; hiding inside the kitchen, watching it all go down, and my gut told me that something big was going to happen. It was right," Percy continued onwards as Artemis listened - and watched, with impeccable attention. The scene changed.

" _Mom, I'm bored!" Percy cried as he lay on the end of the bed. Gabe had gone out to a friend's house to play poker so they were home alone. Sally had just returned from her second job._

" _Percy, I'd like to sleep, I haven't slept for the past two days, why don't you go play or make something to eat." she suggested as she closed her eyes, hoping he would just leave. Her sides ached from Gabe's beating yesterday and she was close to breaking._

" _Poseidon, I need your help, I don't think I can last much longer." she muttered as Percy got off the bed and began to leave. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Percy jumped on to the bed again with a bowl of cereal which sloshed about, some falling on the bed._

" _Percy! Why are you back again? Every day, I have to deal with Gabe ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" she said angrily. She had been tortured for the past few years in every possible way and it was all because of him. Something came over her and she got up and pushed him off the bed causing him to drop the bowl of cereal on the carpet. Sally looked down at the spilled cereal on the floor before slapping him across the cheek, glaring at him as if she would do a lot worse if he didn't leave her alone. Percy was sure at least a few teeth had fallen out as he could taste blood in his mouth._

" _Mom?" he asked as tears began to form in his eyes. The one person he loved more than anything else had just hit him and he couldn't understand why. Slowly, he got off the floor before running into his room. He packed his clothes in to his school bag, grabbed his toothbrush, the ten dollars he had collected throughout his entire life by picking up stray pieces of change, and left the house. He had met Gabe outside though, and was brought immediately back inside. Percy was hit by him as well after he had heard what happened. 'That was how it had all started' Percy thought bitterly as he recalled his past tortures at the hands of the best parents a person could ever wish for._

"To be honest, Sally wasn't that bad. Actually, I think she just went crazy, she would always yell something about a God and how he'd make her the queen of the sea once I died... But that was it, Gabe on the other hand was the entity that represented evil." Percy shuddered as he kept on going on.

"Hell, one time Gabe practiced something he had saw on a more gruesome show. Something called 'The Tub' in which I was placed in a wooden tub with only my head sticking out," he could recall the worry that had built up as he did it. Gabe had did it roughly a couple years after Sally joined in on the beating.

"What, Gabe would do was paint my body with milk and honey; and soon flies would begin to feed on my body and the pain would be beyond unbearable. I could scream but we lived too far in the forest, and too far from any hiking trails, for anybody to notice." Percy shivered at the memory and thanked any and every Lord up above that it was the only thing Gabe did to such an extent. At this point, Artemis was ready to ask Hades to bring them back, just so she could put them through what they had put Percy through but that was unreasonable, no point in doing that when they were probably having it already done to them in the fields of punishment.. She put her balled up and shaking hands tightly by her side as the scene changed once more.

" _Boy! Where are you boy?" A voice screamed through the house. A shiver ran down Percy's back as he knew what was to come._

" _U-Up here." It was barely a whisper and yet his voice echoed through the house. Loud steps banged as they walked up the stairs, right to his room. With a loud slam the door opened wide and Gabe stood with a sinister grin._

" _Follow me you little shit." The man laughed and rather than giving Percy a choice, Gabe grabbed him and dragged him down the stairs and outside. They walked through the forest, not for too long, just enough so that a single window from the house could see him through the trees. In the forest stood a wooden tub like platform, it was poorly made._

" _Take your clothes off." Gabe demanded and Percy nervously did so._

" _Get in."_

" _There?" Percy asked, looking at the tub with alarm. 'Why does he want me to get in the tub?' Percy thought curiously_

" _Yes there you dimwitted bastard!" Gabe yelled at the young boy, grabbing him by the back of the neck and throwing him into the crudely made wooden tub._

 _Percy looked up, fearfully, and asked "What's happening?" whilst in hindsight it would've been better to just keep his mouth shut his young mind didn't know that and so he said as he pleased. Percy didn't receive an answer, instead, he felt warmth engulf his body as a white liquid, milk, was poured onto him, Percy looked down at his body, amazement engulfed his mind as he saw something other than just plain tap water or some overcooked leftovers from a week or so ago that Gabe or Sally had forgotten about, his hand eagerly cupped around a part of his body, the left side of his hip, where the milk was flowing to actively and, with his hands cupped around the milk, he quickly downed it before Gabe, who was searching for something with his back turned, could notice._

 _Soon, Gabe turned around and in his hand was a jar and filled to its brim was a gooey, yellow liquid. Percy stared at the jar inquisitively for a second before his eyes widened in downright astonishment before they widened in horror at watching all that sweet stuff dribble down his body as Gabe Ugliano spilt it all over him, and soon all that was left untouched was his face - which Gabe forced into a Gasmask._

 _Percy attempted not to weep, such savory goodness was so close, he could literally smell it, the feel of the honey slowly rushing down his body and the warm milk engulfing it was euphoric yet that alone was the cruelest thing Gabe has done. It was mental torment! Then, Percy felt something cold clamp against his wrists and he looked down at his wrists to see them clamped with a shackle_ _attached_ _to the tub._

" _Now, you stay there ya little fuck," Gabe ordered before going indoors, leaving Percy outside drenched in the warm milk and sweet honey mixture._

 _At first, everything was fine. Percy was just comfortably lying in the tub waiting for Gabe to come back and let him out of his shackles. Then the first fly came. It just sat on him for a little bit, hopping around on the pools of thick honey. As the hours passed, more and more flies were attracted to the sweet smell of the honey. They began eating slowly at first, but as their numbers grew to an inordinate scale the once large pools of honey had been diminished to a miniscule amount. Once the honey was gone, they began biting at his flesh hoping to get any remaining globs of the sweet nectar. Half a day had passed and Percy was still shackled to the wooden tub, bite marks from flies had taken chunks of flesh off of his body leaving an assortment of exits for blood to flow from. The tub was quickly dyed a dark red with Percy's skin the next victim of the staining. His blood sticking to the underside of his legs. It felt as though days had passed before Gabe finally came back and shooed the remaining flies away, but in reality it had only been around twelve or thirteen hours._

"...To be honest, that was the pinnacle of the worst parts of my home life experiences. Now, you would think that my greatest escape would be school? After all, teachers are meant to be kind and understanding, but whilst there might be the odd asshole but that's it." Percy said as he stared at the girl in the eye. Why was he telling her all of this? He had no reason to do so, neither did he have an obligation, well besides common courtesy, after all, she did just take him in and treat him, well, get someone to treat his injuries anyways. "Ha. At least I wasn't at the end of most of the shit that happens. It's always those lovey-dovey couples that face the brunt of it all in school." Percy let out a short, grim, and borderline sinister, laugh. For once, he wasn't the victim but just a bystander.

 _Percy watched in annoyance as two people entered class, their arms wrapped around each other as they both laughed happily, 'joy' Percy thought, rolling his eyes as he watched the couple with careful eyes. A small grimace ensnared his face as he watched the couple caress each other's necks, "Jacob Pikson, Trisha_ _Arwik._ _You're late. Again," the teacher, Mrs. Gerwin, announced with a raised eyebrow at the couple before gesturing to two empty seats right by each other just shy of the front of the classroom and the couple took their seats, Trisha's hand still inside Jacob's much_ _bigger_ _one._

 _Percy watched as the couple ignored the teacher, making kissy faces at each other the entire lesson, 'idiots' he muttered looking at the jock who thought he could make a fortune with his skills. His skill was abysmal the only reason he was on the team was cause his mother knew some people. Other than being a terrible player he was a love struck idiot, and so was his girlfriend, oppose to the clich_ _é_ _Queen Bee, Cheerleader bitch, she was a quiet girl, as shy as they get and was lovely all around but changed undoubtedly an asshole, several times she'd refuse to participate in any group project stating "I have a boyfriend" as a good enough reason to not contribute to a group, even if it was filled with women and then she'd add "You disgusting lesbos," she wasn't exactly pro-LGBTQ to say the least._

 _Percy snorted in disgust. How did she even become anti-gay from being in a straight relationship or being with Jacob. Either way, "love" had something to do with it._

 _Love. It_ _was a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. That was what most people would use to describe but to Percy? Just a bunch of chemicals in our brain that make us defy logic. Why should we bother to love in a loveless world? We live, we reproduce, and we die. That's our purpose. So why bother with love, all it does is ruin our minds, one would sacrifice everything and anything for a love and they couldn't certain their partner was faithful to them. It was all a game of risk and chance, one with great rewards but bigger losses that could drive one to become thirst for revenge or to end their own life. These were ideas, thoughts that invaded his mind from time to time, thoughts he'd dwell on._

' _Love is a fragile thing.' Percy would remind himself, a mantra to keep him away from it, to stop himself from getting hurt anymore. After all, he himself was fragile, so was his stability, both mentally and physically._

 _Percy loathed love with a passion. That, at the minimum, could be said._


	3. Chapter 3

**Before we get started, for those wondering why it has taken so long to be posted is because I (Lonixa) Had family issues that needed to be settled. I threw myself in a depressing spot and I would like to apologize to everyone. It's also because the rest were too lazy to write. (They know it too.)**

 **Author's Notes** **  
**

 **-This story has been co-written by; Anc1enT, KryptertJ, Storm0, fdquesada (now Xeres I), Lonixa.**

 **Anc1enT - Sometimes I really feel like a potato, then I give someone a fat "yeet" and feel like a depresso espresso. I should probably be writing my own story, but I've worked on this one more I can ashamedly admit. Oof**

 **KryptertJ - Hi. Alright, just to clarify, I'm British so if you see some words like "color" be spelt "colour" that's why, cause you Americans just had to change the bloody spellings instead of sticking with the good ol' ways but noo it just had to be different! Also, I want Storm0 to give it to me up the bum but he doesn't want to.**

 **~Damn, it has been a while since we've updated… we've all been having some problems and procrastination is a bitch so let's give a round of applause to Storm0 who has done almost all the work here.**

 **Storm0 - HELP ME! KryptertJ wants me to fist him. These psychos are messed up at new levels. Stay away from KryptertJ and Anc1enT if you value your sanity.**

 **Xeres I - Usually I could think of something very inspirational or annoying to write here, I'll settle with the obvious: We don't own** _ **PJATO**_ **, Rick Riordan does. I should also update my stories…**

 **Lonixa - I like Turtle Pie :D… I should probably update my stories.** _ **Cough QvK + KotV Cough -KrypterJ**_

 **LC**

 **Loving Chastity**

 **Chapter III**

Artemis looked at Perseus in the eye, she walked towards him slowly and sat besides him on his bed and inhaled deeply. She couldn't take him to Camp Half-Blood because he would still be wary of people and because he was male, he couldn't join the hunt. But she couldn't just leave him here either.

"Perseus. I can… I can give you the chance to live a new life…" Artemis began as she looked at Perseus who looked up at her curiously. Those curious eyes… she had seen them so many times when she looked into his memories. It was uncanny to see them in real life.

."What do you mean?" Artemis heard Percy ask, his voice was but a mere whisper. Percy tried to pull himself up but struggled to do so in his stance. While the scars had healed the soreness was still present.

Artemis stood right above him, staring down at him for a moment. Sighing quietly, she walked over to Percy and grabbed his arm, gently lifting him up. "How do you feel?" she asked him. Percy looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Sore and tired," He quietly whispered to the silver-eyed girl.

Artemis frowned for a moment, she was on a rather tight schedule to find the monster and while she wanted to bring Percy, he was also slowing her down at the moment.

She grimaced inwardly, it would take at least a day before he would be able to travel. At best a nap would do him some good. Would ambrosia help? Or would it burn him up due to him having his divinity locked as of now? While it wouldn't hurt to stop for a day she really wanted to get a move on.

"Alright, rest for a bit Percy. It would do you no good to be moving around in that state." Her voice was quiet as she pushed him gently back down on the bed. It would do nothing but slow them down later if he was to suddenly make his injuries even worse.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You're the same age as me so why does it seem as though you are a lot older? A normal fourteen year old wouldn't come to the forest and take care of strangers."

Artemis sighed to herself, she had known that eventually she would have to answer this question but right now wasn't a good time, he wouldn't let her go after only one question if she explained it to him now. "I'll answer all your questions once you wake up, okay? Just go to sleep for now." She said before quickly leaving the tent so he couldn't ask another question.

 **~LC~**

"So, are you going to explain now?" Percy asked as he sat down beside her, facing the pond.

Artemis rubbed her face before starting, she wasn't sure this was a good idea. "Yes, but before I start, have you heard about the Ancient Greek gods?" she inquired, wondering how much they taught him at school.

"Um...I remember there's Zeus but that's about it. Oh, and I now there were Olympians and then normal gods, there also believed that before the gods there were Titans." Percy replied hesitantly as he was unsure whether it was correct or not and how this would explain her situation.

"Yes, there are twelve Olympians and many minor gods. The Olympians are: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, ...Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes and Dionysus" Artemis began, although to Percy, it seemed as though she hated all of them apart from Athena and Artemis, which she had said normally. It must have been weird to be named after a Greek myth he thought before remembering he too was named after one.

"Okay, but how is this related to you?" Percy asked impatiently. How was talking about myths going to explain why she was out here?

"I'm getting to it," she replied, snapping a little as he didn't let her finish.

"There are three kind of beings from where I come from. First and foremost were the Gods, the most powerful of the beings, the ones that overlooked and aided beings that worshipped us!" Artemis began, pride leaked into her voice and a slight grin made its way onto her porcelain smooth face.

"Then there are the other two," Artemis began with a small smile as memories of her huntresses came to mind, this smile wasn't off pride but of a motherly affection for the girls that looked to her as a mother that they never had. She sighed sadly, it would be time before she could see them again but she had to sacrifice the things that made her so proud in order to aid Olympus.

"Archetypes, in most cases, these are monsters, hundreds of monsters that hunt humans and Demigods relentlessly, easily tearing the hearts out of monsters, they are nothing but filthy murderers that would murder children before their mothers without a second thought," Artemis spat as hatred seeped into her voice, even a deaf person could tell that Artemis loathed monsters with the hateful aura that radiated from her.

"Then there are Demigods," Artemis turned to Percy, her brilliant, silver eyes locked onto Percy's sea-green eyes and in that moment, Percy felt thousands of emotions crash onto him like a tidal wave, as though his very blood was filled with energy and dread, as though his mind was built upon nothing but hatred and hope, opposing sides that clashed against each other.

"They're born mostly due to the infidelity of Gods and their lust, but believe me when I say that Gods love their children no matter what, they are the Gods pride and joy but because most Gods are married or have age-old feuds with other Gods but Gods can't inflict their hatred on other Gods so they resort to other ways of getting back at each other…" Artemis trailed off as disgust filled her voice, she was no exception to this rule, Callisto and Aphrodite being proof of that.

"...So they resort to attacking anyone related to them," Percy nodded, understanding what Artemis was saying but he was still confused as to how any of this has anything to do with Artemis and/or himself but decided not to question it.

"What about Nymphs and Satyrs?" Percy questioned causing Artemis to freeze for a second before adopting a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm… well they fall under the category of Spirits, so do Anemoi Thuellai and Nymphs, but they aren't exactly worth noting," Artemis stated before shaking her head and getting back onto to the topic at hand.

"Well, you asked how this has anything to do with me," Artemis stated, her voice was bland as she regarded Percy, she got up from the seat that they had inadvertently taken during the long explanation

"Well, I was born to two beings, to Zeus, the God of Sky, Lightning, Thunder, Law, Order and Justice," Artemis listed, letting out an indignant snort when she mentioned his last three domains but continued onwards.

"And Leto, Titaness of Womanly Demure and Motherhood, making me a-"

"God." Percy stated as he looked up at her, eyes wide in shock. Yes, it was unbelievable.

"...And the truth is, all of it is true" she finished, turning to Percy for his reaction. Percy looked at her with a half-hearted glare, he looked down at himself before snorting, the thought of being anything more than a pathetic stain was something impossible to him after the thought had been hammered into his head from years of abuse..

"Haha, very funny, just because I was hurt physically, doesn't mean my thinking was affected. If you didn't want to tell me, you should have said so. Thank you for all that you have done but I'll leave now." Percy said, his laugh was faker than most celebrities, his eyes were miserable and he sighed before getting up to leave.

"I swear! I'm not lying!" Artemis cried out angrily, Percy just shook his head, before stretching, Percy sighed softly as he felt his bones creak as though he was an old machine being used after years of negligence.

"Thank you, Artemis, for helping me so much but I'm certain that these… Gods that you believe in aren't real… like I've met a fair share of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. but your… religion, I suppose, isn't something many people believe in." Percy stated as he shrugged before smiling softly. Artemis glowered furiously before a vibrant silver glow engulfed her body, once the glow died Artemis was wearing her normal, Silver hunting garbs and had her symbol of power pointed at Percy.

"How did you do that?!" Percy asked with disbelief as the bow suddenly came out from nowhere.

"You think I'm still fake! I'll kill you right now!" Artemis ranted as she began to glow, her tightly leashed anger finally let loose.

Percy leaped back, his eyes wide in horror at Artemis' claim and Artemis' eyes widened at what she had done as well. Artemis quickly returned back to normal form and walked up to Percy, who kept walking back, his eyes locked on to hers. 'How could she be so stupid?! he had been abused for so long and now she threatened to kill him?' She had to quickly apologize. "I'm so sorry," she said earnestly as she reached out to him but as soon as she came remotely close he flinched. Artemis felt horrible, Percy had found refuge, peace in her and now she turns around and threatens to kill him. She had promised that he'd feel better, find better people and yet, she just did that because she was quick to anger? He didn't even insult her!

"Percy, I am so sorry, please, don't do this." she pleaded. It had taken her quite some time to gain his trust and now he feared her. It made her feel awful. She was known to dislike the male species but it was for good reason, she had been a motherly figure to over a thousand Huntresses in her lifetime, almost everyone had joined her because they had been raped, discriminated against, attacked or had all of those done to them by a man, yet Artemis kept an open mind after all, there's a reason behind the saying "a rotten apple spoils the bunch" and just because several thousand men are shit people doesn't mean several billion are.

Artemis sighed softly, "Please Percy…" Artemis all but whispered, Percy looked at her, fear evident in his eyes as he took a step back, but this time the movement was filled with hesitation.

"Please Percy, I swear, I won't do anything to you," Artemis told him and she reached her hand out to Percy, who scrambled backwards in fear. Artemis felt a sick pit form in her gut. She watched as a young boy she thought was saveable, backed away from her. A child she should be protecting, feared her because of her actions. She knew this was what some men revelled in, the feeling of being feared. The scene seemed familiar.

 _Sally._

That's what it was. This was almost an exact replica of one of Sally's memories. Percy cowering away from her before her. Except it wasn't a memory she was seeing and it wasn't Sally who Percy was cowering from, no this time - it was her.

"Percy… please. I swear, I won't do anything to you, I swear, please Percy." Artemis all but pleaded, an insult to her very nature as a Goddess, and worst yet, the Huntress Goddess herself, the very woman who made monsters, both human and literal, beg for their lives in the most pitiful, pathetic positions for her to spare their worthless lives. Of course, she killed them in the end anyways.

Percy stared up at her, tears still pooling at the base of his eyes, "Please Percy, I swear… I swear on the River Styx.. I won't harm you on purpose, ever." Thunder boomed with a ferocious tenacity.

Percy flinched, hard, the sound of the raging thunder frightening him to the core after all the cracks he had heard from Gabe's belt. Artemis made another attempt at taking a step closer towards Percy, but in his even jumpier state due to the lighting, he scrambled back even more than before. Cursing in Greek under her breath, Artemis realized her oath made things worse instead of helping the situation.

"What can I do to fix things between us, so that you will trust me again? Percy, I don't want it to be like this between us, I don't want you to be scared of me." Artemis tried once again. She wasn't exactly sure why, but she didn't want Percy to be afraid of her like this. It was killing her that he was. It was almost as if someone plunged a rusty and serrated knife into her body and twisted it as they pulled it out.

"I...I… I won't follow someone like you! You're even worse than fuckin' Gabe! True he was terrible, hell, worse than terrible, he tortured me yet I'm still standing! But he never tried to kill me, you… you do..." Percy said, the fury in his words died swiftly and the remains was just a quiet, sobbing mess.

With tears pouring out of his eyes, Percy ran deeper into the forest away from Artemis. He ran to the one place he knew in the forest, the wooden tub with the dried up honey and rotting milk. He spotted the rickety tab, the stench of old honey and milk clogged his nostrils. He quickly climbed into the tub, sl

"Percy! Percy!" he heard Artemis shouting as she came in his direction. Percy slid down lower into the tub, hoping she wouldn't see him. He was quite confused when it came to her. One second she's spouting nonsense about greek gods, which reminded him of his mum, the next second, she's got a bow pointed towards him and now she was searching for him and pleading for forgiveness. He tried to tune out her voice but in less than a minute, she was staring at him from the top of the tub. Percy saw sadness and guilt in her eyes and wanted to forgive her right then and there, after all she hadn't exactly done anything to him, just said she would. Also, dying didn't seem too bad at this point, after all, where would he go after this? He couldn't just stay with her for the rest of his life and he didn't want to go to an orphanage either.

"What do you want?" He snapped rudely at her. He didn't want to do this to her but it was the only way she would leave him and carry on. He knew she would be willing to take him with her but Percy didn't want to cause her trouble or act like a burden.

"Percy, I'm trying to get you to forgive me and I'm willing to do anything you want so why aren't you willing to?" She asked tightly. She was a goddess and yet here she was, begging a someone for forgiveness, her temper was getting harder and harder to control.

"You have to understand, all my life, I've been abused and tortured and threatened so when I finally find someone that cares about me but then they threaten me as well, it feels like I'm completely useless and only used for taking anger out on." Percy explained miserably.

"But I apologized as well, I didn't mean it!" Artemis replied angrily.

"Yeah? Well I had to learn the hard way that sorry doesn't fix anything!" Percy shouted back.

Taking a deep breath, Artemis looked at him silently. "Come with me." she said calmly before walking off.

Percy really didn't want to but his curiosity won over logic and he hastily made his way behind her. She led him for what felt like an hour before they finally stopping. Percy looked around to find that they had reached a clear lake that glimmered in the sunlight. The area seemed to calm him down as it was completely silent apart from the bumble of bees and the chirping birds. Artemis took a seat beside the water and motioned for him to do the same.

"Percy..." she started slowly as she turned to him. She needed to explain his situation more slowly so that he didn't burst like last time. Suddenly, it came to her, "When I was but a week old, I helped my mother deliver my brother Apollo." Percy only looked at her weirdly,

"A week old?"

Artemis nodded, "I didn't know it at the time, but it would become a reason for one of my domains. A few days later, our father Zeus summoned us, me and my brother, to Olympus leaving my mother, Leto, all alone to suffer on that accursed island forever," Artemis stated, the fury that encased each word could be heard by even a deaf man.

"Olympus was the most beautiful place I had ever seen, and remains such. Apollo and I appeared before my father and were appointed as Olympians. I was given the domains of the Hunt, Forests and Hills, the Moon, and Archery. My father took a fondness for me, and promised me that I could have anything I wanted."

Artemis took a deep breath.

"...That day I formed the Hunt. I had asked for a group of eternal maidens, each had their own bow and a quiver of arrows and later that day, I had also sworn my oath of chastity and asked for hunting dogs. We were given our thrones and have helped rule mankind ever since." Artemis told him, Percy looked at her agitated.

"And your proof is? It's 2018, the modern day, making a bow appear can just be some weird parlour trick," Percy snorted, looking at the silver-eyed Goddess.

Artemis glared at him before muttering, "Damn mortals," under her breath. She studied Percy for a moment before smirking, "I have a beautiful Siberian tiger, I captured him in Siberia, about three hundred years ago. Would you like to meet him?"

Percy looked at Artemis warily, "You have a Siberian tiger?"

Artemis' smirk only grew, "Her name is Ashelia. I made her immortal so that she could stay by my side." Percy looked at the goddess wearily before shaking his head, "If you say so."

Artemis only grinned, standing up, she pointed her hand off to where there was a small clearing ahead of them. A small flash of silver light filtered through the area. Percy stared in shock as a large Siberian tiger appeared before him. He watched, mouth wide open, as Artemis made her way to the tiger and gently began to pet her head. To Percy's surprise, the tigress purred under Artemis' hand.

Artemis turned to Percy and beckoned him to come towards them. Percy slowly made his way forward, nervously eyeing the tigress. Ashelia looked at Percy's eyes, with no hostility, almost as if inviting him to come near her. Percy slowly made his way forward and Artemis watched curiously as Percy inched forward to interact with her favorite pet.

"How did you do that?" Percy asked quietly.

"I am the goddess of forests and hills, as well as the Hunt, Moon, and archery. All animals that live in the forests and hills are under my domain. They recognize me as their patron. What do you think, is Ashelia not beautiful?" Artemis smiled as she saw Percy stroke Ashelia's fur.

"So you really are the Artemis from myths?" Percy asked, now more convinced than before that she was who she said she was.

Artemis frowned, but nodded, "They're not myths Percy, it is history."

"So… what do I do now?" Percy asked Artemis as he stroked Ashelia's fur, a small grimace on his face at his lack of direction in life.

"I can't join your hunt, cause I don't think a group of hormonal, prepubescent girls will take the news of having a man join their hunt very well." he stated as he looked at Artemis in the eye.

"Well Perseus," Percy cringed slightly at the use of his full name.

"There's a camp, this camp trains beings like you to be able to defend yourselves, it's called Camp Half-Blood and is located on Long Island," Artemis told Percy who nodded at the new piece of information.

"Beings like me?" Percy inquired and looked at Artemis who gave him a look before nodding.

"Yes, Half-Bloods like you."

"So there's a camp full of people that are… half-bloods and there's such a thing as gods? And you… you're a god as well?" Percy asked bewildered.

"Yes Percy and I wanted to ask you, do you want to go to Camp Half-Blood? You would have lots of fun and you don't need to study either" Artemis tried persuading him. She had no idea what to do with him now but she couldn't just leave him here.

"I don't know Artemis...I don't think I'm ready to meet more people yet, especially that many at once" Percy said quietly as he shivered at the thought of that many people surrounding him. Even at school, he tried to stay away from as many people as possible.

They sat in silence, just watching as birds swooped down to the lake, touching it and possibly drinking some before flying away, the ripples the only proof that they had been there. Artemis turned her head in his direction. Beside her sat a boy that acted unlike the others, although that may have been because of the way he had been brought up. As she searched through his thoughts, she saw that he had only been rude to her so that he wouldn't be a burden to her as she had offered to take him.

"Percy, would you like to come with me?" She quickly brought her hands to her mouth as her eyes widened at what she had said. Percy, on the other hand, didn't move but in his eyes, she could see a small fire light. Seeing this, suddenly, she didn't regret what she had said.

"Can I? Where would we go though?" Percy asked. After seeing her use her powers, he wanted to stay beside her so she could protect him. He felt safe for once in his life.

Artemis thought about it. She had already wasted time healing him and she wanted to carry on with her hunt for the Ophiotaurus, after all, if the Titan army had found it first, it would spell trouble for the gods. But then again, Percy was just a demigod but he was a powerful one, so if he could just unlock his powers, it would help her a lot. The other gods couldn't help her with this because of the Ancient Laws and she had to admit, even her Hunters didn't have an aura as strong as his.

"Yes, and I am the Goddess of the Hunt, how about I train you so you can defend yourself?" She asked . She couldn't teach him elemental powers since his powers were locked but he could always learn to use weapons.

Lately, monster activity had increased and it was getting more and more difficult to deal with them as each group held from fifty to two hundred monsters and they camped near mortals so she couldn't show her true form. Killing two birds with one stone, getting help with monsters and saving the child.

Percy looked up at the Goddess and adopted a thoughtful expression before grinning slightly and deeply bowing, "I accept your offer, Miss Artemis."

Artemis waved her hand and Ashelia disappeared, returning back to from where she had been summoned. The last thing she needed was Zoë sending her an Iris-Message asking about her tigress. Then she turned to Perseus, "Let us get some rest."


End file.
